Jack is in Love
by BettyHall223
Summary: Jack would not have missed this for the world. Short story.


_Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended._

**A/N: While writing a sequel to one of my stories, the idea for this one came to me so I had to get it out of my head and into my computer. To all of you in the United States I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving.**

Jack removed his hat as he walked quickly through the doors of Inova Alexandria Hospital and headed to the information desk. Seeing a nurse sitting with her head down, Jack rapped his knuckles on the counter, startling the woman and making her jump. Putting her hand to her chest, she looked up at Jack.

"May I help you, sir?"

"My wife was brought here by ambulance. Samantha O'Neill. Could you tell me where she is?"

The woman looked at her computer and clicked through a few screens.

"The maternity ward is on the third floor. Room 310."

Jack hurried to the elevators and pushed the button. Running his fingers over the rim of his hat, he waited impatiently. Staring at the doors, he remembered the phone calls that had come during a meeting with the Senate Committee on Homeland Security.

_While answering a question, he felt his phone vibrate in his jacket pocket but decided to wait until later to see who had called, thinking that the meeting should be over soon._

_Ten minutes later, while explaining a portion of the defense budget to the Committee, he felt the phone vibrate again._

_Almost an hour later, the meeting finally came to a close. He shook hands with the Committee members and after everyone had left, he sat back down and pulled the phone from his pocket. The first message was from Sam, telling him that while she was out shopping she began having pain and the store manager had called 911. Sam was waiting for an ambulance to arrive and she asked him to call her as soon as possible. The second message was from an emergency medical technician, telling him that his wife was in the ambulance and they were on their way to Inova._

_He tried to call Sam back but there was no answer and he didn't want to leave a message, he just wanted to get to her as quickly as possible._

_Knowing that the baby was not due for another month, he tried to stay calm as he quickly informed his administrative assistant what was happening. She immediately called for a car and driver to meet him out front. Grabbing his hat, he ran to the elevator. Just as he came out of the building, a car pulled up and he got inside. For the first time since he had moved to Washington, he had never been so thankful to have someone take him wherever he needed to go on such short notice._

_Staring out the window as the driver sped along the freeway, his thoughts went back to how he and Sam had gotten to this day._

_After getting married, they hardly found time to see each other since Sam was at Area 51 and he was in D.C. After being apart for five weeks, they had decided they could not go on like this. Being separated for weeks at a time was not good for either of them, nor their marriage._

_The next time Sam had found a chance to come for a visit, they discussed what they could do to remedy the situation. She checked with some people she had known at the Pentagon and found out there was an open position at The Air Force Office of Scientific Research in Arlington. Having met the director when she had worked at the Pentagon before moving to Colorado Springs, she arranged for an interview and had been offered the job. Asking for a transfer to Washington, the transfer had been approved and she began her new job as the head scientist of the Dynamical Systems and Control Division which leads the discovery and development of future air and space flight._

_Just a few months after they had settled into their new home in Alexandria, they had found out that Sam was pregnant._

_He had come home to find her in the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub, holding a pregnancy test stick in her hand. Without saying a word, he sat down beside her. They stared at the little blue stripe, indicating that the test was positive._

_They turned to look at each other. He started to smile as she began to cry. Putting his arm around her, she leaned her head on his shoulder._

"_Happy or not so happy tears?" he cautiously asked._

"_Happy. Very happy" she whispered._

He was brought out of his thoughts as the elevator finally arrived and the doors opened but he had to wait while a nurse pushed a wheelchair patient off the elevator.

Stepping inside, he pushed the third floor button three times, trying to make the doors close faster.

As he got off the elevator, he noticed a sign giving directions to the rooms.

Walking as fast as he could, he found Room 310 and started to go inside when a nurse came out the door.

"May I help you, sir?"

"I'm looking for my wife, Samantha O'Neill."

"You're at the right place. She's okay and the baby is fine."

Jack's eyes widened. "She had the baby? It wasn't due for another month."

"This little girl was ready to be born. She's a little underweight but other than that, she's healthy. Your wife just fell asleep and the baby is beside her in a bassinet."

Jack smiled. "A little girl."

The nurse grinned. "Congratulations."

Jack pushed the door open, entered the room and stared at Sam for a few moments. She looked tired and a little pale.

He laid down his hat on a chair and gently kissed Sam on her cheek.

Walking around the side of Sam's bed to the bassinet, he peeked inside and smiled. His new baby daughter lay swaddled in a white blanket with a little pink knit cap on her head. As he continued to look at her, she scrunched up her face and began to cry.

Quickly removing his jacket, he threw it on top of his hat and scooped up his daughter in his arms. Putting her against his chest, he began to gently rub her back and she became quiet. He paced back and forth as he gently bounced her.

Memories of holding Charlie came to mind as he remembered getting up in the middle of the night to give him a bottle so Sara could sleep, and bouncing Charlie in the same manner that he was doing just now.

After a few minutes of pacing, he wanted to get a better look. Sitting down in a rocking chair, he laid her on his lap and pulled back the blanket. She was dressed in a little t-shirt and the smallest diaper he had ever seen. On her right ankle was an ID bracelet and a security bracelet was on her left ankle to monitor every time she was moved throughout the hospital in case someone tried to steal her. He looked up to see that Sam was wearing a security bracelet on her wrist that matched the one the baby was wearing. Knowing that he had enemies, he was thankful for this technology that helped to protect their child. But knowing that nothing was foolproof, he would keep a watchful eye on their baby until it was time to take her home.

He removed the baby's cap to see that she had light brown hair. Gently running his hand over the top of her head, he could have sworn that she smiled. He gently massaged her head. She took a deep breath and sighed as if she were enjoying the attention. She had Sam's nose and ears and his mouth. He counted fingers and toes and noticed her long eyelashes. Placing his little finger in her palm, he smiled as she wrapped her tiny fist around his finger. He touched her arm, feeling her soft and delicate skin. Gently rubbing his index finger against her cheek, she turned her head and he could see tiny dimples. He looked her over from head to toe for several minutes. After replacing the cap on her head and wrapping her back up in the blanket, he picked her up, laid her in the crook of his arm and stared at her, thinking that she looked so much like Sam.

"You're beautiful, just like your Mom" he whispered.

He began to gently rock, thinking about the days ahead. Her first tooth. Her first steps. Her first words. The first time that she would call him "Daddy." Teaching her to fish at the cabin. Her first day of school. Her first date. Watching her grow from a little girl into a young woman.

He gently kissed her forehead and she opened her eyes. He stopped rocking and watched. She blinked a few times as if the light hurt her eyes. Yawning really big, she took a deep breath and went back to sleep.

Jack smiled as love filled his heart.

Twenty minutes later, Sam awoke to see Jack sitting in the rocking chair, gazing at their daughter. Tears moistened her eyes as she looked at her husband, thinking about how much she loved him as he cradled their child in his arms.

Sam slowly set up. "Jack."

Jack raised his head and she could see tears in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Jack smiled. "I'm in love, Sam."

Sam grinned. "She is pretty amazing, isn't she?"

Jack stood up as the baby opened her eyes. Sam moved over so Jack could sit beside her and he carefully handed her their daughter.

Jack sat down beside Sam, put his arm around her shoulder and pressed a long kiss to her forehead.

"Thank you for bringing our daughter into the world. There is no other woman I would have wanted to be the mother of my child."

"And you're the only man I would ever want to be my child's father."

The baby began to whimper so Sam opened the top of her gown, put the baby to her breast and the baby's tiny mouth began to move.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked as he stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles.

"A little sore and surprised that she got here so quickly. The nurses had just prepped me when, all of a sudden, here she came."

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. I was busy with the Senate Committee and didn't answer my phone."

"It's okay, Jack. Neither of us expected this to happen today since she wasn't due for another four weeks. So, what are we going to name her?"

"I have an idea."

"What?"

"Janet."

Sam slowly nodded her head. "I like it."

"She's the most perfect baby in the world."

"She has you wrapped around her little finger already, doesn't she?"

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I can't deny it."

"Pretty soon you'll have her watching The Simpsons with you and by the time she can walk, you'll have bought her a little fishing pole."

"Got to teach her the finer points of fishing, Sam" Jack said seriously.

Sam smiled. "I have a feeling she's going to be a daddy's girl."

"Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Not at all. You're going to be a great Dad and Janet will adore you."

Jack gently touched the baby's head. "She looks just like you. So . . . want another one?"

Sam smiled as she looked into his eyes. "Maybe."

Jack squeezed her shoulder. "We'll see what we can do about that."

**Three Years Later:**

Janet and Jack stood on the dock at the cabin.

"What is that, Daddy?" Janet asked as she held her little fishing pole and peered into the bucket, watching the worms crawl around in the dirt.

"Those are worms, sweetheart. They're what we bait our hooks with so we can catch a fish."

Janet took a step back and made a face. "They're dirty, Daddy."

"I know, but watch. I'll show you what to do."

Jack picked up a wiggling worm and Janet's eyes grew big as he put it on the hook. He glanced at Janet to see tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"You're hurting it, Daddy! You're hurting it!"

"I'm not hurting it, honey."

"You stuck it with that sharp thing! How do you know you're not hurting it?"

"Well . . . I just . . . I just know."

"But how?"

Jack sighed. "Well, I don't know for sure but worms are what people have always used to catch fish."

"I don't want to catch fish if you hurt the worm." Janet burst into tears, dropped her fishing rod on the dock and ran to the cabin.

"Girls" Jack said out loud as he sat down in a chair and threw his fishing line in the water.

A few minutes later Sam came walking onto the dock, holding six month old Jake.

"Jack, what on earth did you say to Janet? She came in the cabin crying and talking about Daddy hurting worms."

Jack looked up at her. "For cryin' out loud, Sam. I was just trying to teach her how to bait a hook and she goes all girly on me and told me I was hurting the worm. Now she'll never want to learn to fish."

Sam tried not to laugh as she picked up Janet's fishing pole and held it out to Jack.

"Honey, I know that fishing has always been something you've wanted to share with your daughter, but maybe you should save this for Jake when he's older. Maybe you'll have better luck with him since he's a boy and he probably won't mind hurting the worms."

Jack grabbed it out of her hand. "Gimme that."

Sam chuckled as she headed back to the cabin.

The End


End file.
